Supervision

The therapists at Spiral share a vision of the interconnected nature of mind, body, heart and spirit. We have a commitment to keeping the energy flowing through mindful attention to our environment and to each other. Spiral therapists and clients come from diverse and multicultural backgrounds.

Supervision is available for counsellors, psychotherapists and complementary therapists.

In addition to this, we offer placements for associate therapists, and the opportunity for qualified therapists to be part of the Spiral team.

Supervision for Counsellors and Psychotherapists

Supervision for Complementary Therapists

Aleine Ridge

Diploma in Integrative Psychosynthesis Counselling with Communication and Counselling Foundation (1993). I am a BACP Senior Accredited Counsellor/Psychotherapist (first accredited in 1997) and a UKCPHIPS Registered Supervisor. I have worked as a counsellor since 1973 and as a psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer since 1990. I co-founded Spiral in 1995 and am a co-director here.

As well as having an extensive practice I have worked in a number of different organisations as a counsellor, psychotherapist, supervisor, trainer or consultant, including: NHS, Pregnancy Advisory Service, Lesbian Line, London Rape Crisis, Complementary Health Trust, Women and Health, Stress Project, NSPCC, One in Four, MIND, Advance and Angel Drug Project. Having worked with such a diversity of people over a long period of time I work integratively, incorporating client-centred, interpretative and focussed approaches depending on what emerges in the field. A lot of the people I see are dealing with the effects of childhood trauma. The traumas might have been emotional, physical, sexual or spiritual and any of these aspects of self may be affected. I am constantly inspired by the journey of healing, integration and insight which I share with my clients.

Afra Bell

I am a BACP Accredited Integrative Psychotherapist and have a Certificate in Counselling Supervision (City & Islington College, 2013). I currently offer supervision to students, including associate therapists on placement at Spiral, as well as to qualified counsellors and psychotherapists, and to mental health workers within the statutory, voluntary and private sector.

As well as practising at Spiral, I have worked as a psychotherapist and counsellor for over 10 years in a number of different educational and multiagency settings including local authority Mental Health Teams, NHS, Specialist Mental Health Services, and the Youth Offending Service. This has given me a particular insight into some of the ongoing and sometimes conflicting complexities involved in integrated working and the challenges that counsellors, psychotherapists and mental health workers can face whilst working within various agencies and institutions.

My approach as a supervisor is collaborative, constructive and empowering. I offer a supportive and creative space to explore client work and professional development, and also how your own personal process might impact on the therapeutic relationship. I work intuitively and integratively. The core of my work is humanistic and person centred, and I incorporate psychodynamic, solution-focussed and CBT theories as appropriate, as well being open to any other approaches that may resonate with you and with what might best support each particular client.

I work at Spiral on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings and may have availability on some Saturdays.

Pom Eaton

Diploma in Counselling and Group Work, Southwark College (1995), Integrative Humanistic Psychotherapy training at Spectrum. I am a BACP accredited psychotherapist, and I practise as a psychotherapist and supervisor at Spiral.

I offer collaborative, discursive and supportive supervision to both qualified therapists and students, including those on placement at Spiral. I focus on the difficulties and experiences of the therapist rather more than on the issues of the client. Supervision supports the development of reflection, self awareness and creative thinking through which the supervisee develops an understanding of who they are as a therapist and how they are in relationship to their clients. As a supervisor, I work to offer a safe and relational space where trust can grow and risks can be taken to share both the highs and the lows of this privileged work that we undertake.

I am an integrative humanistic therapist and bring my experience of Gestalt, formative psychology, relationship skills work, sexuality, bereavement counselling, somatic work, and creativity to the supervisory process. I am interested to also be informed by the interests and modalities of my supervises.

I work at Spiral on Thursday mornings. I also practise in N1 and N4.

Session last for 50 minutes and my full fee is £50. For further information or to arrange an initial consultation, please contact me on 07794 754871 or via email at pomtherapy@aol.com

Deb Lyttelton

I am a psychotherapist registered with the UKCP. I have Diplomas in Psychotherapy (2008) and Counselling (2004) and a Diploma in Supervision (2014) from Re-Vision Centre for Integrative Psychosynthesis.

As well as being a supervisor for associate therapists on placement at Spiral, I also provide group supervision for the low cost counselling service at Re.Vision Additionally I have a practice based at Spiral and in Suffolk where I see individual adults for therapy and offer supervision for other trainee and qualified therapists. Until July 2014 I was a Senior Psychotherapist at Respond, working with people with learning disabilities. I have previously worked in the NHS as a psychotherapist, and prior to my psychotherapy training I worked in the voluntary sector for many years.

I have experience of working therapeutically with a range of issues with adults. These include depression, general anxiety and stress, sexuality, disability, domestic violence, physical and sexual abuse, addictions and eating disorders and difficulties at work and in relationships. I have worked with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and different ages.

My approach to supervision is to support the needs of the therapist as far as I can in working as empathically and thoughtfully as possible with their own clients. There can often be a parallel process between the supervisory relationship and the therapeutic one, so I believe it is important to pay attention to what we might learn about the work with the client from what the feelings and images that are evoked in supervision. My job as supervisor is to support the well-being of both client and therapist as far as possible.

I am at Spiral on alternate Wednesday mornings and afternoons, and my regular fee for supervision is £60.

Deborah Berger

I have a Diploma in Integrative Psychosynthesis Counselling (2005) and Psychotherapy (2015) and a Certificate in Couples Counselling (2011) from Re.Vision Centre for Integrative Psychosynthesis. I am currently participating in a supervision training with Re.Vision and have attended previous supervision training at the Centre for Supervision and Team Development.

I offer supervision to associate therapists on placement and to qualified counsellors and therapists. At Spiral I work with associate therapists on both the initial and advanced stages of their placements. I have been working with clients for more than 10 years and currently offer sessions to individuals and couples both at Spiral and in N17.

Supervision offers the potential to grow and ground your practice in a supportive and challenging space. I’m interested in how the supervisory relationship can mirror or highlight elements of the client’s material and offer deep insight through counter-transference and ‘field’ communication. Supervision at its best is an exciting meeting which facilitates the exploration of the unknown, inviting a willingness to be in that place with clients. It is also an essential place of nurture to come back to the self, whilst remaining in relationship, and to check in with the internal process or wound.

I offer day and evening sessions at Spiral and in N17. My current fees are £55-£60 per session; concessions are offered depending on availability.

Supervision for Complementary Therapists

Amanda Biggs

I am a registered craniosacral therapist (qualified in 2007), a shamanic practitioner (most recent training completed in 2004), and was accredited as a supervisor with the Craniosacral Therapy Association UK (CSTA) in 2012. My supervision training was with Deirdre Gordon, senior tutor with the Karuna Institute’s contemplative psychotherapy training, and I am in ongoing supervision for both my practice and supervision.

I offer supervision to complementary therapists of all disciplines as well as to craniosacral therapists. The focus is on the therapeutic relationship and understanding the being of both therapist and client, more than on technique. My approach to supervision fits with the shamanic and craniosacral experience that offering space and intention to something will help it to find its mirror. In any type of therapeutic relationship there may be many different ‘layers’ and themes that seem to be playing out for both client and practitioner, consciously or unconsciously. So in supervision we bring the relationship or wider questions related to being a practitioner into the room for support and awareness. We are not looking to intellectualise about what is happening, but to notice how we feel, in the body, emotionally and energetically, and to work with this.

I am especially keen to nurture supervisees’ ongoing trust in themselves in situations when confidence can become challenged, as well as supporting change where that is needed. More generally my intention is to encourage practitioners’ empowerment to feel comfortable in their own style of work and growth, rather than feeling they need to conform to an external ideal. I feel we do our best work when we relax into being ourselves.